Today, Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-42) issued the following statement on President Trump’s new strategy on Iran:

“As I have said since it was signed, President Obama’s Iran deal is a bad deal for the safety and security of Americans, as well as our allies in the Middle East and throughout the world. The actions of Iranian regime continue to destabilize the region and pose a threat to America’s national security interests. I applaud the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization and the implementation of additional sanctions as authorized by Congress. We must continue to send a strong and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that their behavior must change.”

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Today, Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-42) voted along with a bipartisan majority (353 to 69) of the House of Representatives to approve H.Res. 569, which provides $36.5 billion in emergency funding for hurricane and wildfire relief and recovery.

“Over the past few months, Americans have faced the devastating effects of significant hurricanes and wildfires,” said Rep. Calvert. “The passage of this emergency funding is critical to everyone impacted by these disasters and our heroes who respond to them. Tremendous challenges remain for many Americans but we will stand together in support of them throughout the recovery process.”

The legislation fully funds the requests submitted to Congress from the Administration. It includes $18.7 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), $576.5 million for wildfire-fighting efforts, and $16 billion for debt relief for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which now needs additional funds to make necessary insurance claims payments to individuals. In addition, it includes a provision for the Disaster Nutrition Assistance Program (DNAP) that enables low-income residents in Puerto Rico to receive the same emergency nutrition assistance that other hurricane-affected states already receive.

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Today, Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-42) voted along with a majority of the House of Representatives (219 to 206) to approve the Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Resolution (H. Con. Res. 71). The resolution paves the way towards consideration of comprehensive tax reform via the budget reconciliation process, making it immune from a Senate filibuster.

“The best thing Congress can do for American families and our economy is to pass tax reform that simplifies our code and lets taxpayers keep more of their hard-earned money,” said Rep. Calvert. “With the passage of the budget resolution, the House has taken a major step on the path towards tax relief. I’m hopeful the Senate will follow our example so we can move on to passing a tax reform bill.”

Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Resolution Highlights

(Provided by the House Budget Committee)

Balancing the Budget

The resolution draws a path toward a balanced budget within 10 years, without raising taxes, and places the government on a fiscal course sustainable for the long term. The national debt is already an impediment to greater prosperity and a threat to the security of future generations. This committee’s budget significantly reduces spending and reforms government programs to put us on a sustainable spending path.

Promoting Economic Growth

For the past eight years, government has been a hindrance to economic growth. This budget urges reversing this trend with a combination of pro-growth policies, including deficit reduction, spending restraint, comprehensive tax reform, welfare reform, Obamacare repeal-and-replace legislation, and regulatory reform. All can promote more robust growth over the longer term.

Ensuring a Strong National Defense

Defending America’s security is the highest priority of the Federal Government. To that end, this budget supports robust funding for troop training, equipment, compensation, and improved readiness.

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Today, Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-42) issued the following statement on gun policy in the United States:

“I have long been a strong supporter of Second Amendment rights and I will never waiver from that commitment.  However, it is incumbent on all of us to reflect on our current gun laws and seek to better protect ourselves and each other.  

“There are steps that both the Executive and the Congress can take to protect innocent Americans from an attack such as Las Vegas.  There is simply no reason for someone to be able to modify a legal weapon to shoot like a machine gun.  Bump stocks should never have been made legal and we must act quickly to ban them.  I have agreed to sign a letter urging the ATF to reverse their 2010 ruling that allowed the sale of bump stocks and I am working with a number of Republicans and Democrats on a potential legislative solution as well.  

“Protecting the rights of law-abiding American citizens while providing for the safety of our communities are not mutually exclusive goals.”

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Today, Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-42) and Congressman Doug LaMalfa (CA-1), and others, introduced the Federally Integrated Species Health (FISH) Act, H.R. 3916. The legislation would consolidate the management and regulation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) within the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).

“It makes no sense to have multiple federal agencies responsible for enforcing the ESA,” said Rep. Calvert. “The FISH Act is a good government bill that will benefit species and all stakeholders affected by the ESA through a unified approach to managing threatened and endangered species. As we have seen in the California Bay Delta and other complex habitats, there are often conflicting and incompatible measures taken by different resource agencies.”

Rep. LaMalfa said: “Last year, the conflicting ESA responsibilities of the FWS and NMFS resulted in one agency demanding that water be released from Shasta Dam for Delta smelt, while simultaneously the other agency demanded that water be held back for salmon. The right hand should know what the left hand is doing, and the FISH Act will lead to better decisions by ensuring personnel working on different species actually talk to one another when developing policies. Farmer or environmentalist, urban or rural, everyone should support cutting duplicative bureaucracies to generate ESA plans that work.”  

The ESA is currently administered by FWS and the Commerce Department’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The FWS has primary responsibility for terrestrial and freshwater organisms, while the responsibilities of NMFS are mainly marine wildlife such as whales and anadromons fish, such as salmon.  The FISH Act would transfer all of the NMFS’ ESA responsibilities to the FWS.

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Today, Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-42) issued the following statement on the mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada:

“My deepest condolences go out to the victims’ families and friends and to those injured. I commend the rapid reaction from first responders and the medical staff who are currently treating those who were hurt.  There are no words to express the sorrow at such a large number of lives lost. It defies comprehension. My prayers are with all those impacted.”

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Today, Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-42) praised the unified tax reform framework developed by the Trump Administration, the House Committee on Ways and Means, and the Senate Committee on Finance.

“The tax reform framework announced today is an important step towards making America’s tax code fairer, simpler and more competitive,” said Rep. Calvert. “We need a tax code that works for the middle-class and for our job creators. By putting America first we can create more economic opportunities that will benefit hard-working families throughout our country.”

The Trump Administration, the House Committee on Ways and Means, and the Senate Committee on Finance have developed a unified framework to achieve pro-American, fiscally-responsible tax reform. This framework will drive the debate as Congress looks to craft a 21st century tax code that is built for growth, supports middle-class families, defends our workers, protects our jobs, and puts America first. It will deliver fiscally responsible tax reform by broadening the tax base, closing loopholes and growing the economy. It includes:

• Tax relief for middle-class families.

  
  

• The simplicity of “postcard” tax filing for the vast majority of Americans.

  
  

• Tax relief for businesses, especially small businesses.

  
  

• Ending incentives to ship jobs, capital, and tax revenue overseas.

  
  

• Broadening the tax base and providing greater fairness for all Americans by closing special interest tax breaks and loopholes.

With the release of the framework, tax-writing committees will now draft legislation through a transparent and inclusive committee process. Throughout the process, Rep. Calvert will work with his colleagues in the House to help develop additional reforms that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our tax system.

The full framework can be found HERE, and a one page overview can be found HERE.

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Today, Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-42) joined a majority (211-198) of the House of Representatives in supporting the Make America Secure and Prosperous Appropriations Act (H.R. 3354). The legislation contains a package of funding bills that provide all discretionary funding for the federal government for the 2018 fiscal year.

“Today, the House took care of its job by passing all 12 of the appropriations bills for the first time since 2009,” said Rep. Calvert. “The funding bill approved today reflects the priorities of most American families, including funding increases for our national security. The bill also contains funding for a number of southern California priorities, like continued investments in the earthquake early warning system and the Santa Ana River Mainstem flood control project. It’s now time for the Senate to do its job and pass these bills.”

Highlights:

• The Defense portion of the bill contained $15 million requested by Rep. Calvert to construct a new schoolhouse at March Air Reserve Base to support the MQ-9 Reaper aircrew. The demand for of Remote Piloted Aircraft by our military continues to grow, making this investment essential to ensure March can meet the future needs of our Air Force.

• The Homeland Security portion of the bill included report language requested by Rep. Calvert addressing the rise in visa fraud for the purpose of having children in the United States. The growth of so-called birth tourism has resulted in a number of raids and arrests throughout southern California over the past few years. More recently, the city of Eastvale has reached out to Rep. Calvert about the growth of suspected birthing homes in the city. The language in the fiscal year 2018 Homeland Security Appropriations bill states:

  The Committee is concerned by a reported increase in individuals fraudulently entering the United States on non-immigrant visas in order to give birth in this country. While individuals are welcome to come to the U.S. on a tourist or other visa, it is against the law to apply for admission under false pretenses. The Committee is also concerned with reports that different ports of entry may not be consistently applying CBP guidance in this area, allowing individuals seeking to exploit the visa process to direct pregnant women to specific ports of entry with more lenient admission practices. The Committee directs CBP to investigate these fraud allegations and take steps to ensure that admission criteria are applied uniformly across ports of entry.

• The Energy and Water portion of the bill includes $40 million requested by the Trump administration and Rep. Calvert for continued construction of the Santa Ana River Mainstem flood control project.

• The Interior and Environment portion of the bill includes $10.2 million requested by Rep. Calvert for the continued development of an earthquake early warning system to help save lives during natural disasters.

• The Interior and Environment portion of the bill includes $130 million requested by Rep. Calvert for the Indian Health Care Improvement Fund to address the shortfalls in the allocations of base funding across the Indian Health Service system. The funding is particularly important to rural California tribes. 

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In a letter sent earlier this month, Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-42) has urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to deny Nevada Hydro’s request to waive pre-filing licensing requirements for its proposed Lake Elsinore Advanced Pumped Storage (LEAPS) Project due to significant local concerns with the project.

“I have heard from many of my constituents and the city of Lake Elsinore regarding their concerns with the LEAPS Project,” said Rep. Calvert. “FERC should deny any attempt to fast-track the project and take into account the many questions and complicated issues surrounding the LEAPS Project. The region around Lake Elsinore has changed dramatically since Nevada Hydro first submitted its environmental documents and original application in 2007. The outdated documents and significant community concerns make it vital that FERC deny the waiver request and follow a deliberative process that fully scrutinizes the project.”

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Today, Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-42), Congressman Lamar Smith (TX-21), and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (VA-6) introduced the Legal Workforce Act (H.R. 3711) to preserve jobs for citizens and legal workers by requiring U.S. employers to check the work eligibility of all future hires through the E-Verify system. 

“Mandatory E-Verify is long overdue,” said Rep. Calvert. “The program is ready to go mandatory and the Legal Workforce Act will deliver on the promise to ensure that American jobs go to American workers and those authorized to work in the U.S. Chairman Smith and Chairman Goodlatte continue to demonstrate tremendous leadership in advancing the use of E-Verify and protecting American workers.”

In 1996, Rep. Calvert authored the legislative language that created the E-Verify program, the only tool available for employers to voluntarily check the legal work status of newly hired employees. Since then, Rep. Calvert has worked steadily over the years to expand E-Verify and pushed to make it mandatory.

E-Verify is operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), E-Verify checks the social security numbers of newly hired employees against Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security records to help ensure that they are genuinely eligible to work in the U.S. The program quickly confirms 99.8% of work-eligible employees and takes less than two minutes to use. Nearly 740,000 American employers currently use E-Verify. A summary of key components of the Legal Workforce Act can be found here here.